You might think that library directors make the best advocates, since no one understands the library’s budget and needs better than they do. But the library director is going to be viewed as self serving when s/he asks the local elected officials for a larger budget. The same is true of any other department head or the staff from these publicly funded institutions. But what if that message is carried by a respected citizen or business owner in the community? Then the elected officials take notice. Do library staff have any role in supporting the institution they love? Of course they do! Citizens who advocate on behalf of the library need to be educated and organized to do effective lobbying. The library director needs to be sure that citizen advocates have the right information about the library’s services, budget, and needs for serving the community.

Canadians have a global reputation for being polite and even deferential. But when it comes to our literature, our writers don't shy away from challenging the status quo, exploring taboos, and offering bold perspectives. We're highlighting 10 controversial Canadian literary classics that pushed the envelope when they were released, and that you should definitely read, if you haven't already.

I’m delighted to announce that Sarah Cole from TIME/IMAGE is the British Library’s new Creative Entrepreneur-in-Residence, having secured funding from CreativeWorks London to work on a project called Poetic Places. This initiative will explore relationships between literary geographies, cultural heritage collections, and real world environments...

Every teen librarian knows programs that offer snacks are usually a hit and can even entice teens reluctant to join in the fun. With that in mind, we offer many teen programs that include snacks, from Chocolate Fest to Pizza Gardening. When the Student Ambassadors proposed making a solar-powered s’mores oven for an Earth Day activity, we knew it would be a hit.

A large portrait of a seated Northrop Frye hangs on the walls of the Pratt Library Reading Room at Victoria College in Toronto. His image is a presence that looms over students. The canvas depicts the famous scholar hovering in midair above a wasteland setting of grey mountains and forbidding flat lands. He is neither up high nor down low. On this, the centennial of his birth, that floating presence is almost a metaphor for his current status.

When we have too many books and too little time many of us turn to audiobooks to keep our read on while our hands and eyes are otherwise occupied. But let’s face it, our bookish desires are bottomless. We need to have a few cards up our sleeves to squeeze every second of listening time out of the day.

Mathew Flores used to read junk mail for fun. Now he has thousands of new books. The 12-year-old loves reading so much that he reads everything that he can get his hands on, including junk mail delivered to his home in Sandy, Utah. But thanks to a viral plea from his mailman, Mathew's library just got an upgrade.

Scottish artist Katie Paterson has launched a 100-year artwork - Future Library - Framtidsbiblioteket - for the city of Oslo in Norway. A thousand trees have been planted in Nordmarka, a forest just outside Oslo, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in one hundred years time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until 2114.

The May 15, 1960 issue of Library Journal reviewed a new work by a debut author, Harper Lee. Her To Kill a Mockingbird was released on July 11 of that year and our reviewer, librarian Robert W. Henderson, described it as “A gripping, timely story. Strongly recommended for all libraries.” (See below for the full review.) Lee’s newest book, Go Set a Watchman, will be released July 14.

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